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Gardeners' Notes:

The flowers burst out on leafless branches a few days before the forsythias. They're a greenish yellow, quite attractive, though they may not be showy enough for those who prefer forsythias.

The scarlet summer fruits are ornamental, and taste a a bit like a sour cherry. I find them tasty fresh (I also like fresh sour cherries), but I can see them used like sour cherries in cooking/baking. This species is widely grown for fruit use in eastern Europe. There are cultivars expressly selected for fruit size and quality, and if you're getting one with fruit harvest in mind I'd go for a cultivar.

Unlike most fruit trees, this one takes care of itself. It's tough, hardy, adaptable, and virtually pest free. The leaves are green and not burgundy/black.

It is a pretty plant from Europe that is sold at most larger nurseries in the upper Midwest as in Chicagoland. Not often planted by layman homeowners, but occasionally used by landscape designers who know it. It is a dense, dark, rounded small tree that bears small yellow flower clusters for about a month in March into early April. It has a sort of exfoliating bark that looks nice. It bears large red fruit that are edible and used for jams and jellies. No fall color, though. Most European woody plants don't color as well as American and Asian ones.

The plant that I had was given by another person - it have survived its first winter and crowding by taller plants and respond by increase it size - no winter damages are noticed except for the extreme top shoot.

Can be grown as shrub or pruned as a tree. Very beautiful foliage when it first emerges. Many cultivars available with varying leaf and blossom coloration. Very carefree, trouble-free plant, yielding edible fruit that is attractive to birds and animals, as well as people.